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Man pleads not guilty in June crash

Newton Falls resident had previous OVI conviction

WARREN — A man already on probation for a drunken driving conviction in 2017 pleaded not guilty Friday to charges stemming from a drunken driving crash in June, according to court records.

Daniel Lesh II, 34, of Newton Falls, failed to stop at a red light just before 1:30 a.m. June 17 at the intersection of state Route 46 and the entrance of Home Depot in Howland and crashed into the back of another vehicle stopped at the light, according to a report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. One of the women in the other vehicle suffered multiple spine fractures from the crash, the patrol report states.

Lesh was indicted Feb. 1 by a Trumbull County grand jury on a charge of aggravated vehicular assault and two misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, court records show. He has been at the Trumbull County Jail since Tuesday when a Trumbull County Common Pleas judge revoked his bond from the previous case. He is due back in court Wednesday, court records show.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol report from the June 17 crash, Lesh was heading south and failed to stop behind Kimberly Kohut, 31, of Canfield, rear-ending her Chevrolet Cruze with the Mini Cooper he was driving. Nicole Kohut, 28, is Kimberly Kohut’s sister and was a passenger in her car.

The Kohuts were wearing seatbelts, and Lesh was not, according to the report. He had a blood alcohol content of .278 — more than three times the Ohio legal driving limit of 0.8, according to the report.

The women were treated at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, while Lesh was treated at Trumbull Regional Medical Center.

Lesh was on probation for a 2017 incident that led to numerous charges, including OVI, refusing to take alcohol field tests, reckless operation, fleeing and eluding and obstruction of official business, according to Newton Falls Municipal Court records.

He pleaded guilty and was placed on probation and given a mostly suspended jail sentence of six months, according to court records. Lesh violated his probation with the recent crash and the court revoked his bond.

rfox@tribtoday.com

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